Russia's minister of culture Vladimir Medinsky

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. Culture Ministry investigators are checking reports that books published by the international Soros Fund have been burnt in central Russia's Komi Republic, minister Vladimir Medinsky said on Thursday, rejecting any possibility that this destruction had been authorized

"I believe that burning books is similar to monument destruction," the minister said. "In my view this is inadmissible," he added, pledging further comment after inquiries had been made.

Media outlets have reported that more than 50 books on "Renewing humanitarian education in Russia" were burnt in Komi after the Soros Fund, the publisher, was added by Russia's Justice Ministry in December to a list of undesirable non-governmental organizations and whose books should have been seized.

The Soros Fund, officially named the Open Society Foundations, is an international grant-awarding network founded by American business magnate George Soros to support civil society groups worldwide.